Published 10:00 pm, Saturday, June 25, 2016

HILLSBORO — A former Texas law enforcement officer whose career ended when he was accused and convicted of sexually abusing a young girl almost 30 years ago has now been sentenced to three life prison sentences for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2009.

The Waco Tribune-Herald reports a Hill County jury convicted 68-year-old Thomas Johnny Wilkins of aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child. District Attorney Mark Pratt told The Associated Press that the life sentences are to be served concurrently but that Wilkins won’t be eligible for parole for 30 years.

Wilkins was a Dallas County sheriff’s deputy in 1976-82 and a deputy constable in Dallas County in 1982-87 when he was charged with his first sexual abuse case and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Mother fatally shoots 2 daughters; police kill her

The incident happened about 5 p.m. Friday in front of a home just outside the Houston suburb of Fulshear. The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office identified the mother as 42-year-old Christy Sheats and her daughters as 22-year-old Taylor Sheats and 17-year-old Madison Sheats.

Sheriff Troy Nehls says the shooting apparently climaxed a family argument, but the reason for the argument remains unclear.

Nehls says the two younger women had already been shot when a Fulshear police officer arrived and saw the mother with a gun in her hand, apparently preparing to shoot one of her daughters again. The officer shot and killed the woman.